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The Viery War
Date: Septimus 4th, V+T Day-6 years to Nuevras 17th, V+T Day-4 years When Eridanus IV was invaded, it seemed like a complete steamroll. The various militias and armies tried to hold back the krogan. But, of course, the first two years wound up a complete slaughter until a new regime change came around, sending a new standard. With the Forge on a roll, the Krogan Alliance is suddenly worried that this new, united human entity could be a serious threat. As such, plans are laid to invade one of FDI's most vital strategic areas; the Viery Territory, up in the far north on Eridanus IV. Bordering on the Maltrose Sea, Viery was the birthplace and homeland of FDI HIGHCOM. Though heavily fortified, the krogan knew that if they took Viery then the head of the snake would be severed. Background Though the Forge's capital was in the old factory-city of Armatron, its military heart was concentrated in Viery, which used to be part of an old industrial complex. Heavily fortified with plenty of units on standby, normally this territory was thought to be next to impossible. But the Second Siege of Armatron had called away more than half of the Defense Force soldiers, and the only Marine Corps presence was the 12th Marine Regiment. Needless to say, Viery was not well protected, and quite vulnerable to a full-scale offensive. The region was a frontier area, with most of the human inhabitants clustered in tight mining enclaves and small towns and communities, where they could keep things local. The wildlife weren't dangerous, the weather was agreeable being so close to the pole, and the sea allowed good business from fishing and a boost to agriculture. But when the war came around, the entire territory was locked down for its strategic location. A land army could only advance from one direction; to the north, where several miles of fortifications awaited any foolish enough to try and blast through. With this assurance, civilian activity was allowed to continue in the area, though most of it was heavily watched by FDI authorities. Force Composition 'The Forge' The Forge Defense Initiative had always tried to maintain at least a division's strength around HIGHCOM in the Viery Territory, but with events scaling up in the area and the Third Siege of Armatron was calling for as many troops as could be spared. This meant that only three Defense Force brigades were left, the 8th Armored, the 34th Infantry and the 124th Mechanized as well as the 37th Armored regiment and 38th Mechanized regiment with the 3rd Armored battalion (an orphaned unit after the 61st Armored had been destroyed), all under the command of the 10th Armored Division, most of which was deployed to Armatron, leaving the remnants behind in Viery. In assistance was the 12th Marine Regiment, which had been flown into the area for reinforcement and resupply. Attached to them were the 105th Shock Company, with Shock Troopers sporting some of the first prototypes of Juggernaut powered armor. Fleet support was limited due to the increasing struggle for orbit, but air support came in the form of the 16th and 41st Fighter Wing, as well as the 2nd Bomber Squadron. Several gunships squadrons were also in the area, though these elements were attached in to parent units instead of grouped into their own. These mostly consisted of Condors, with Hunchbacks to provide transport capability for light infantry groups. Many of the bases and posts across the region were heavily fortified firebases, with artillery support and dug-in defenses, meaning that any enemy attempting a conventional overland invasion of HIGHCOM would have to slam through miles of intense defenses. One interesting unit of note were the 6th Viery Guard, an elite battalion of veteran soldiers whose sole task was the protection of senior officers and sensitive installations. These men were given the most advanced weapons FDI had to offer, and were backed by tanks, gunships and artillery organically thrown in with their infantry. Six hundred heavily armed and well-equipped soldiers who guard HIGHCOM at all times, and who had so far not been encountered by the krogan as a whole unit. 'The Alliance' The krogan knew that if there was one thing to disorient an army, it was to shatter their strongest forces and kill their leaders. Take out the commanders and shake the troops' morale. And as the Forge Defense Initive proved they had the organization and technology to contest the Alliance, they had to be taken out, quickly. To this end, Warlord Grentz tasked Battlemaster Pilakk to lead an army into the territory and take it for himself. Pilakk (whose name means humility, a very insult to krogan thinking) was a tactician, one of the best strategists in the Alliance. Thanks to his patient planning and careful work, he'd accumulated quite a force. Several legions of infantry, many Tomkahs and Tritons and over thirty brumaks, quite a few more than an army of his size was supposed to have. Devoted to his cause were Berzerkurs, fanatical warriors led into battle by shamen, and flights of Mantis craft. For one of the first and only times of the war, however, Pilakk used his influence to secure an entire wing of Penitent dropships, normally used for transporting troops to and from starships. Instead, the strategist decided to borrow a page from the humans, and made one of the first air assault units in the Alliance, designating them the 1st Storm Group. Giving them hefty body armor, close assault weaponry and unggoy with actual combat experience, the 1st Storm represented a major threat to FDI installations that thought themselves protected from tanks and infantry waves. Since aerial superiority wasn't such an important factor to krogan, AA systems were typically light on the ground, which Pilakk was counting on to use. The Executioner's Axe Pilakk's first move was to do exactly what FDI hadn't expected; loading up the 1st Storm Group, he ordered them to assault across the Manilow Sea, directly towards HIGHCOM's central building, known as the Rostov Defense Bureau. Heavily defended by the 6th Viery Guard and perimeter guns, one of the first targets to strike was to bombard the nearby airfield, destroying the 144th Gunship Wing while they were still on the ground. A flight of Mantis bomber strucks the Condors while they were on the pads, hit the hangers containing the Nimbus fighters and knocked out the anti-air guns protecting the place. Even after the bombers left, two platoons of Warriors descended from their dropships, clearing up the area to ensure none escaped. Though they killed many FDI soldiers and airmen, they weren't fast enough to stop a squad of Defense Force soldiers from scrambling into a pair of nearby Knights. With Penitents on their tails, the two battle cars took off for Rostov, unaware that they were unable to do anything to help. As the airbase was being torched, Rostov's comms array was suddenly smashed by a long-range missile, and without warning a flight of Mantis gunships and bombers were slamming into the compound. The 6th responded with extreme speed, managing to fight off the gunships, but when the dropships began spewing forth Storm warriors, the elite guard were forced to fall back into the main building itself, firing from the doors and windows. With their tanks in the compound destroyed, the Guard were helpless to watch as the Warriors took an axe to the other structures, hunting down every human in them, be they soldier or civilian, and killed them all. Only the snipers and mortar teams could respond, bombarding the Warriors from a distance, but none of the victims could be saved. In the Bureau itself, the senior staff were hurriedly being evacuated. General Ironside himself strode through the halls, a cross look on his face as he barked out orders, demanding that the rest of the 6th be put on alert to defend their installations and insisting that no reinforcements be called upon to save Rostov, for he knew the compound to be doomed already. Just when it seemed things couldn't be getting worse for the 6th, however, the 1st Storm revealed another weapon up their sleeves; the krogan had developed their own jump troops. Known as Havoks, these jetpack equipped krogan were less like the tactical airborne soldiers of the Forge and more like literal berserkers, slamming into combat with battle axes and heavy pistols. In short order, an entire platoon leapt to the top of the Bureau, carving their way into the astonished snipers and heavy weapon crews up top. It was only by quick thinking (and the unfortunate sacrifice of everyone on the roof) that a pair of soldiers slammed the doors to the inside shut, blasting out the electric lock and barricading it with what they had on hand. Though not much, the measure held up the Storm Havocs long enough for them to grow bored and seek an easier entrance. Outside, the other Storm Warriors had finished off their other targets, and began assaulting the main building again. There were four groundside entrances to the Bureau; the main doors, quickly barricaded and locked down with Wolverine machine guns and a platoon of soldiers, the building's parking garage and motor pool, the cargo dock where packages were delivered and sent out, and the groundside airpad. All four entrances were under siege, but unlike the regular Alliance armies, these veterans did not throw themselves willy-nilly at the dug in defenders, not even the unggoy (much). Instead, they moved tactically, using the high ground and making their own cover to close with low casualties until their could being their short-range firepower to bear. Though they took more casualties than expected, the Storm Warriors breached all entrances but the front doors with an astoundingly low number of losses, massacring the troopers holding the doors. Inside, General Ironside glanced back as he heard the gunfire approaching, listening to his soldiers fighting for their lives. Though the groundside airpad had been taken, another Hunchback awaited the senior staff out back in the yard, and so far it had been kept safe by several other soldiers of the 6th. He hesitated, tempted to grab a nearby rifle and simply turn back to stand with his men...but continued on to the yard. The remaining soldiers of the 6th held their ground as long as they could before they fell back to the roof, awaiting pickup from dropships from the airfield. Unfortunately, it never came, as they spotted the smoke roiling up in the distance. Thus, knowing there was no surrender, the remainder of the company had no choice but to fight on to the last man. Out of humor, several were taken prisoner to be used in gladiatoral arenas. Though Rostov was lost, the senior commanders escaped, and the survivors were able to recount that the krogan had a new form of warfare to deal death to the Forge. The Rolling Tide News of Rostov's destruction spread quickly, as the few survivors who escaped ran to the nearest communications systems they could to spread word that the krogan were coming. While Pilakk's land army loaded up into aerial transport to get them over the sea, the 1st Storm Group continued to widen the beachhead, destroying several more outposts over the next few days, until nearly every security post that was designed to protect Rostov was burned into ash, hundreds of soldiers killed in the process. Civilian settlements were burned to the ground, and it was almost a week before a response could be formed. Over a dozen Nimbus interceptors were scrambled as soon as the location of the 1st Storm Group was found, swarming into the main body with guns ablazing. While lacking in attached anti-air vehicles, the krogan fought back with missile launchers against the human fighters. Many dropships were shot down before the 1st Storm took cover in a farming settlement, fighting back from the various structures. But just as they had landed and dug in, the fighters quickly bugged out, only for a flight of bombers flying too high for handheld missiles to reach soared over. The Valhallas smashed most of the 1st Storm Group, leaving the rest to be picked apart by a Condor squadron with several squads of Hunchback-borne assault troops from the 6th Viery Guard to land and begin fighting anew. Within days of their rampage, the krogan's first experiment in aerial assault was swiftly exterminated. But it wasn't enough. On the same day that the 1st Storm were shot down, numerous landing craft carried troops and vehicles over the sea, dropping them on Viery's shores as they moved forward, following the destruction further north, seeking to widen the gap. At the same time, a much larger force struck the northern fortifications, attacking the dug-in defenders even as they were attempting to redeploy to answer the assault down south. This unexpected pincer attack began to hammer away at the Viery defenders with full force from both sides, catching the Defense Force offguard as they hurriedly attempted to counter both assaults. Category:Battles